The present invention relates to a device installed in an image recording apparatus for pulling out the leading edge of a rolled recording medium such as a rolled paper and then cutting the recording medium at a predetermined length as measured from the leading edge to feed the resulting sheet to a predetermined recording section of the apparatus.
A recording medium feeding device incorporated in a copier, facsimile apparatus or similar image recording apparatus may be implemented by a rolled recording medium such as a rolled paper and a cutter for cutting the recording medium at a predetermined length, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 54-84482 and Japenese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 58-113052 and 59-229370 by way of example. It has been customary to load this kind of device with a plurality of rolls and a single cutter in order to promote easy replacement of the size and property of a recording paper to be used. The cutter is located downstream of a junction where paper transport paths individually assigned to the webbings of paper which are paid out from the rolls join each other. When the paper pulled out from one of paper feed mechanisms being selected reaches a predetermined length, the cutter is driven to cut the paper to produce a recording sheet.
The prior art paper feeding device of the type described suffers from some drawbacks as follows.
(1) In order that the webbings paid out from the multiple paper rolls may be prevented from overlapping each other in the cutting section of the apparatus where the cutter is located, special members for isolating the webbings from each other have to be disposed in the junction of the transport paths or, alternatively, the paper paid out from any roll has to be retracted every time it is cut. This renders the paper feed mechanism complicated.
(2) While the cutter is in operation, the paper to be fed next cannot be paid out. Since an ordinary rotary cutter needs about 500 milliseconds of operation time per cycle, a substantial interval or waiting time needs to be provided between the cutting of a paper and the start of pay-out of the next paper. Hence, the average paper feed speed available during continuous paper feed mode operation is limited.